Information about APEC 2007

APEC and Australia

In 2007 the Australian Government will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Established as an Australian initiative in 1989, when Canberra hosted the first informal dialogue with 12 members, the forum has since grown to include 21 member economies and over 100 formal and informal dialogues and meetings annually.

From January to September 2007 Australia will host a series of APEC meetings focusing on areas of interest to the nation, with over 100 days of ministerial, officials-level and business-group meetings held across the country.

The APEC Australia 2007™ year will culminate in Sydney on 8-9 September with the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM), bringing together the leaders of all major regional economies as well as thousands of delegates, support personnel and the international media, and is one of the most important annual meetings of world leaders.

The gathering of leaders from the United States, People's Republic of China, Indonesia, the Russian Federation and Japan with other Asia-Pacific partners is a valuable assembly to promote regional stability. In recent years APEC's agenda has expanded to include key global issues including counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and health.

To coordinate and manage the logistics of such a significant international forum the APEC 2007 Taskforce, a division within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, has been established.

Security for the APEC Australia 2007™ year is being coordinated by the Protective Security Coordination Centre (PSCC), a division of the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department. A branch of PSCC is collocated with the Taskforce.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has established a separate APEC 2007 Taskforce which has prime responsibility for managing Australia's relationship with APEC and shaping the policy agenda for the APEC Australia 2007™ year.

In total, 15 Australian Government agencies will take part in policy, organisational, logistics and security planning for the meetings.